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My dog is terrified of storms. Is Benadryl good for anxiety?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | 1 year and 7 months old | 8 lbs

My 8 pound girlie mix is a little over a year old and terrified of storms. Ice given her half of a children's benadryl but it's not helping to calm her. Can I give her more? If so how much? Half was given nearly 2 hours ago. Thank you Tanya Doyle

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Karly Macon, DVM, MS, CVA Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

Veterinarian

Published on April 4th, 2017

Benadryl is a very safe medication but I can't legally give you a specific dose because I haven't seen your pet in person. However, if your dog has severe anxiety in the face of storms, benadryl is not an appropriate medication to use because it is not designed for anxiety/fear/stress--it is an antihistamine for allergic reactions. In the future, you need to visit your veterinarian and ask for anxiety medication like Lorazepam (off label) that works very effectively for this purpose. Benadryl will likely never work well for your dog for this purpose.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Lauren Jones VMD

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Hi Tanya! I'm sorry to hear that Everly is so petrified! Without examining Everly to establish a legal veterinarian-client-patient relationship, it is illegal for me to give you any dosing information for any medication. You should not give her any further Benadryl at this point and consider talking to your vet about other anxiety medications for use during storms.

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    Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

    Veterinarian

    Published on June 26th, 2018

    Unfortunately, by law it is illegal for the experts at Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to give the dose information for any drug, including OTC drugs, without seeing the animal in person first. That's because doing so requires a veterinary client patient relationship which cannot be achieved via an internet forum. In addition, the experts cannot say for certain if a specific drug is safe for Bella. It is contraindicated with certain conditions such as pets with glaucoma, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease. I would actually recommend making an appointment for her with her vet to discuss using anti anxiety drugs during this time. Benadryl is an allergy medication, and it's typically used in dogs to help with allergic reactions. It only has mild sedative properties, and may not work at all to calm a dog. There are anti anxiety drugs the vet can prescribe that will give her a good level of sedation to help with the anxiety from fireworks. Give your vet a call in the morning to make an appointment. Best of luck, I hope this helps!

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